


December 19th: Angel

by LittleSweetCheeks



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Family, M/M, ProfilersForChristmas2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-08-29 22:05:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8507182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleSweetCheeks/pseuds/LittleSweetCheeks
Summary: Memories and decorations.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [ProfilersForChristmas2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/ProfilersForChristmas2016) collection. 



“Hey, Spencer?”  Six-year-old Jack came into the bedroom carrying a box.  “Is Dad going to be away long?”

Spencer looked down at his young charge.  Hotch had left the boy in his care a few times, but this trip to testify in Oklahoma was the first time he was watching him overnight.  “He should be home on Friday or Saturday.  What’s up?”

Jack sat the box on the floor and shuffled his feet, “Could we finish decorating the tree to surprise him when he gets back?”

“I don’t know.”  Spencer frowned, “Do you know where everything is?”

The boy’s face lit up, “Yes!  I can show you!  There’s decorations for the tree and stockings and lights to go in the windows and a Santa and his sleigh for the table!  C’mon!”  He started pulling Reid down the hall.

“Well, hold on.  How about you change out of your good school clothes and into something you can get dirty in first.”  He watched the boy rush to his room before pulling out his phone and texting JJ, asking her if this was even a good idea.  He got confirmation that it was a great idea just as Jack returned.  “Let’s get everything out and we can see what we can get put up, okay?”

“Okay!”

==

Spencer had decorated the top couple feet of the tree and helped Jack with lights and garland around the bottom before sitting back and letting the boy go to town hanging ornaments around the lower section of the tree.  Cup of coffee in hand, he caught sight of the box Jack had been carrying earlier in the evening and picked it up.  It was an angel tree topper.  “Hey, Jack?  Is this for the tree too?”

Jack spun around and the smile dropped from his face, “Yeah.”  He approached and took the box from his dad’s friend.  “It’s special.”  He sat it carefully back on the table and stood next to it protectively.

Spencer nodded, “I have things that are special to me too.”  He watched how Jack held the box close, “Do you want to save it for when your Dad gets back?”

Jack sat down in the chair next to the box, “Mommy bought this, it was her favorite decoration.  Daddy said it reminds him of her.”

He wasn’t sure how far to press, didn’t want to make the boy upset, “When I was a kid, we had a big star that went on the tree.  It was always my job to put it on the top of the tree and it was my Dad’s job to lift me up to do it.  Well, one Christmas my Dad wasn’t there anymore to lift me up and I wouldn’t let anyone else pick me up so the star didn’t go on the tree.”

“Was your mom mad?”

“No.”  He pulled Jack close, “Do you let your Dad help you put it on the tree?”

“I wouldn’t let him put it up last year.”

“And this year?”

Jack shrugged.

“Well, for tonight let’s just sit it aside and we can have some hot chocolate.  Your Dad will be back in a few days and you and he can decide about it then.”

The boy nodded and watched as Reid went into the kitchen and made their mugs of cocoa.

==

Hotch eased the door open, trying not to disturb the people he figured were sleeping inside.  As he shut it behind him, he caught sight of the lights and decorations on the tree and smiled.  Jack must have talked Spencer into helping him. He sat down his bag and briefcase and quietly crossed the room, movement on the couch caught his eye.  Sound asleep on the sofa was Spencer on his back with Jack tucked into his side.  It warmed his heart to see the two people most important to him snuggled together like that.  Finding a blanket, Hotch carefully draped it over the pair and crept to his room.

==

The first thing Reid noticed was the heavy blanket surrounding him.  The second was the smell of coffee.  Blinking awake Spencer glanced around the small living room and noticed the tree had been unplugged at some point and a mug of steaming coffee was on the table.  Jack was still tucked close to him.

“Good morning,” A soft voice said from out of view.

Twisting and craning his head, Spencer’s eyes landed on Aaron smiling from the kitchen.  “When did you get back?”

“I got in just after midnight.”

“I expected you to be gone until the weekend.”

“Me too.  After my first round on the stand, the guy changed his plea to guilty.”

Spencer nodded then asked, “So what else is he hiding he didn’t want you to find?”

“I wondered that.  But it’s a question for another day.”

Jack stirred and slowly got up, stumbling away down the hall without looking at his surroundings.  Once he was gone, Aaron crossed the room and sat beside Spencer, pulling him into a kiss.  “Good morning, Love.”

“I missed you.”  He wrapped his arms around the older man’s waist.  “Everything was fine, but I missed you.”

“I saw you two decorated the tree.”

“Most of it.”  At Hotch’s curious look, Reid pointed to the box on the table.  “He didn’t want to put the angel on.”

When Aaron reached forward to pick up the box, Spencer took the opportunity to sit up, feet tucked under himself.  “It was Haley’s.”

“He said.”  He ran a hand down Aaron’s back lovingly.

“Maybe I should just buy a new one.”  Hotch studied the plastic angel, it’s blonde hair brushing its shoulders and long dress shimmering in the morning light.  “We could get a different type of topper.”

“It’s special, you need to keep it.  Eventually he’ll want that reminder of his mom.  You both will.”  When Aaron glanced at him over his shoulder, Spencer saw tears in his eyes.  “It’s okay to miss her, Hotch.  It’s okay to still be sad she’s gone.  Just because we’re together doesn’t mean your relationship with her, how you felt about her, how she dies, all of that went away.”

Hotch was surprised when he felt his breath catch.  He wasn’t surprised when he felt Reid close the small distance between them, pulling his head to rest against his slim chest.  “Thank you.”

Reid held Aaron in a tight embrace for several minutes until Jack returned and shouted with joy at seeing his dad home.

“Daddy!”  Jack flung himself onto the couch.  “What’s wrong Daddy?”

“I was thinking about Mommy and how happy she always was to see the angel on the tree.”  Hotch answered from within Reid’s arms.

Jack crawled onto their laps and took the angel, looking up at the tree.  “Will she be happy again if we put it up now?”

“I think so, Buddy.”

Jack thought a minute, “Will you help me put it on?”

“Sure,” Aaron answered.

“No, Daddy, I was asking Spencer.  You can help Spencer and me put the angel on the tree.  His daddy went away and he never got to put his star on again.  He can help me since my mommy went away.  We can do it together.”

Tears sprung to Reid’s eyes as he looked to Hotch for an okay.

“That sounds like a good idea Jack.  I’ll help both of you put it up.”  Hotch pulled them both into a hug.

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
> 
>  
> 
> A conversation about angels on the tree.


End file.
